An Interview With Guitarist Markus Reuter: Ambient/Progressive musician discusses his latest projects, and musical evolution.
In the world of ambient and progressive rock, guitarist Markus Reuter is one of the most pre-eminent and active musicians in the 21st century. An innovative musician known best for his work with the Touch Guitar, Reuter currently plays with The Crimson ProjeKCt, an offshoot of prog-rock legends King Crimson, and maintains an active solo career.
I spoke to Reuter recently regarding his current projects, recent tour, and his creative processes. Enjoy the Q&A below:
SLIS: So I understand that you studied under King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp. How did that come about and what was the process that lead to you joining The Crimson ProjeKCt?
MR: I went to a “The League Of Crafty Guitarists” concert in 1991 and found some flyers there for a Guitar Craft “Level One” introductory course with Robert Fripp in Switzerland that summer. I took up the opportunity and went to several courses up until 1998.
Later, in the year 2000, I met Pat Mastelotto on a train in Germany, and that’s where the process leading to the Crimson ProjeKCt really started, I think. Pat and I have been working together as TUNER since 2005, and alongside Tony Levin (as Stick Men) since late 2010, and from there the Crimson ProjeKCt was born in 2011 by combining Adrian Belew’s Power Trio and Stick Men.
SLIS: Was it intimidating playing his parts for the first time with the band? Exhilarating? A mixture of both?
MR: No, not intimidating at all. If I wouldn’t feel up to the task I wouldn’t do it. A very clear focus is what I need in order to play these parts in such a way that it feels right to me.
(Photo Credit: Dutch Rall)
SLIS: I was listening to your recent ambient improvisation which I really enjoyed. Tell me about when you first began exploring ambient music, and when you discovered the touch guitar?
MR: My first ambient recordings were done on a 4-track Fostex recorder back in mid-1980s, but I started experimenting for real in ca. 1993 with a Chapman Stick and short delay loops. In 1995 I had my first proper looping setup and in 1997 my first all-looping solo gig, which was released as my very first solo album ‘Taster’ in early 1998.The Chapman Stick was actually mentioned to me by Robert Fripp in one of our first personal meetings. I must have asked him about it and he said that if he were younger he’d go for Stick rather than guitar (I’m paraphrasing, obviously). I then got in touch with Trey Gunn via some common friends and bought my first Stick from him in early 1993. I then switched to Warr Guitar in 1997, and then to my own brand and design, the Touch Guitars® U8, in 2007.
SLIS: I know you also teach instructional lessons via the Touch Guitar circle. How did that start, and what do you enjoy about teaching other musicians?
MR: I am a very analytically thinking person by nature and that lends itself perfectly to an instrument where there has been no real tradition. It really bugged me that so many people fall in love with that instrument but then go nowhere because of the steep learning curve. I have now reduced the steepness of that curve considerably by dedicating a big chunk of my time to the research into and application of the touch style technique.
SLIS: Tell me about your recent cruise with Tangerine Dream, Marillion, Yes, and Queensryche. How did that come about and did you enjoy the experience?
MR: It was gig brought to us by our agent. We had been asked last year as well, but somehow it didn’t come about. Anyway, we enjoyed the experience very, very much. I saw quite a few, but not all of the bands, unfortunately. Tangerine Dream sounded great, for example, as did UK and Three Friends. It was also quite a pleasure to see Yes for the very first time. They were the host of the cruise and made it all possible.
SLIS: I hear you have an upcoming album coming out with material recorded from the last Crimson Projeckt tour. Can you elaborate on what that will release will feature?
MR: I opened each concert on the recent TCP tour with a 5 – 8 minute “instant composition”, and managed to record almost all of them (we played 24 shows total). I have just finished a compilation of the 13 best pieces, and it will get put out on CD very soon. The title is “Sultry Kissing Lounge”. Some of the compositions are simply “ambient” explorations, but most of them have a guitar solo in the second half, something that I only just started doing more frequently.
SLIS: I’m assuming Fripp was an influence for you starting out. What other musicians inspired you when you were learning your instrument?
MR: David Torn, Mike Oldfield, Olivier Messiaen, Alban Berg, just to name a few…
SLIS: Being an accomplished musician, I wanted to ask you about where you feel music currently sits in pop culture. Does that frustrate you that technology allows many ‘artists’ to cheat, and that so much modern music is generic and lacks ambition?
MR: I wouldn’t go so far. To me, “real music” is extremely rare anyway, and there is no need to be frustrated about ordinary music. The difference between “real” and “ordinary” is that ordinary music is largely motivated by extra-musical factors, like looks, feel, sexual considerations, etc. “Real” music is only motivated by music itself, and that’s the case in only very few cases..
SLIS: Are there any new projects or disparate musical styles that you would like to explore that you haven’t already? Any other artists that you haven’t worked with but would like to?
MR: My aim is to focus on what I call my “transcription project”. Older pieces from my repertoire will be made available so that ensembles can play them. In terms of artists I’d like to work with, there’s always Mike Oldfield. I’d certainly would love to learn from him. And I find Devin Townsend’s work fascinating.